Erik Satie - Francis Poulenc Plays the Piano Music of Satie and Poulenc

Chronique

English reissue label él Records' Francis Poulenc Plays the Piano Music of Satie and Poulenc is drawn from the same pool of 1950 vintage Columbia recordings that produced Sony Masterworks Portrait's 1991 release Francis Poulenc Plays Poulenc and Satie. In accord with the switched around titles, the Masterworks Portrait edition presents the Poulenc first and Satie second, while finding ample playing time to allow for a pair of Chabrier songs, performed by Pierre Bernac, in between. This él release does not make for such an allowance, and runs for the same 42 minutes that occupied the 1950 Columbia LP issue. The sound is quiet and not hissy, though terribly cramped, whereas the Masterworks Portrait issue was of average volume, included a little hiss, and was hit by a slight reverb. These 1950 recordings of Poulenc, like many others made by Columbia's European divisions in the early '50s, were a little distorted and terribly dry -- of the two transfers, the Masterworks Heritage issue attempted to deal with the latter challenge, but neither addresses the former.
Not every good pianist is a good Satie player; pianists who are technically proficient to a high degree often do not have the patience not to push the slow tempi and wide-apart events in Satie's music. Poulenc was a good player who nonetheless understood Satie's music well, and might be the only pianist who recorded Satie who also heard Satie's own playing in person. Note how slowly he takes "Tyrolienne Turque" from Croquis et Agracéries d'un Gros Bonhomme en Bois -- most pianists can't resist playing this movement fast, and with a dynamic flourish. Poulenc understands the idiom of the French cabaret that informs Satie's conception and takes this piece at only a moderate tempo, which may sound unfamiliar, but suits the music well. Poulenc is authoritative in his own music heard here. These 1950 Poulenc Columbia recordings are wonderful and genuinely historic items, and while the él Records issue might not be the ideal way to get them into one's library, they will certainly do, given the lack of availability of the Masterworks Portrait issue.

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